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Offshore UK jurisdictions react to latest tax avoidance inquiry

Officials from Britain’s overseas territories and Crown Dependencies said they were prepared to cooperate with the latest UK government investigation into tax evasion and avoidance, but some expressed surprise that it was felt necessary.

They pointed to a raft of new regulations, including the Common Reporting Standard – an automatic information exchange regime currently coming into force globally – new and pending additional rules on beneficial ownership registers, and the UK’s Retail Distribution Review, which they argue have transformed the so-called offshore financial services industry over the last few years.

The States of Guernsey’s Policy Resources Committee, for example, noted in a statement that the EU Council of finance ministers (ECOFIN) had reaffirmed that Guernsey “was a cooperative jurisdiction in respect of taxation, following a screening against principles of